Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program Education and Workforce Development

Opportunity details

Agency

National Institute of FOOD and Agriculture

Notice type

Federal Grant

Original posted

January 20, 2026

Last updated

November 2, 2026

Notice ID

grant-361169

Summary

The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative - Education and Workforce Development (EWD) focuses on developing the next generation of research, education, and extension professionals in the food and agricultural sciences. The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) requests applications for the AFRI’s Education and Workforce Development program areas to support:

Summary fields are from official SAM.gov or Grants.gov structured data. CaptureIQ does not republish full solicitation or grant text.

Eligibility

Eligibility Requirements - Applicants for AFRI must meet all the requirements discussed in this NOFO. Failure to meet the eligibility criteria by the application deadline may result in exclusion from consideration or preclude NIFA from making an award. For those new to Federal financial assistance, NIFA’s About Grants provides highly recommended information about grants and other resources to help understand the Federal awards process. Eligibility is linked to the project type as specified below.1. Research, Education, or Extension Projects Eligible applicants for single-function Research, Education or Extension Projects include:a) State Agricultural Experiment Station;b) colleges and universities (including junior colleges offering associate degrees or higher);c) university research foundations;d) other research institutions and organizations;e) Federal agencies;f) national laboratories;g) private organizations or corporations;h) individuals who are U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent residents; andi) any group consisting of two or more entities identified in a) through h).Eligible institutions do not include foreign and international organizations.2. Integrated ProjectsEligible applicants for Integrated Projects include: a) colleges and universities;b) 1994 Land-Grant Institutions; andc) Hispanic-serving agricultural colleges and universities (see NIFA’s Hispanic-Serving Agricultural Colleges and Universities page).For item a) under Integrated Projects, the terms “college” and “university” mean an educational institution in any state which: a) admits as regular students only persons having a certificate of graduation from a school providing secondary education, or the recognized equivalent of such a certificate; b) is legally authorized within such state to provide a program of education beyond secondary education; c) provides an educational program for which a bachelor’s degree or any other higher degree is awarded; d) is a public or other nonprofit institution; and e) is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association. A research foundation maintained by a college or university is eligible to receive an award under this program.3. Food and Agricultural Science Enhancement GrantsPart II, C.2 contains the eligibility details for Food and Agricultural Science Enhancement (FASE) Grants. Note that under FASE opportunity, only Strengthening Standard, Predoctoral Fellowship Grants, Postdoctoral Fellowship Grants, and Strengthening Workshop are solicited in this NOFO.Applicants must respond to the Program Area Priorities and deadlines found in Part I, C. Grant recipients may subcontract to organizations not eligible to apply provided such organizations are necessary for the conduct of the project. Failure to meet an eligibility criterion by the application deadline may result in the application being excluded from consideration or, even though an application may be reviewed, will preclude NIFA from making an award (see Part III, B).USDA will not accept competitive applications for grants and cooperative agreements submitted for due dates after June 20, 2025, and/or research and development (R&D) contract proposals submitted to solicitations issued after June 20, 2025, for dangerous gain-of-function research, as defined in Section 8 of E.O. 14292.

Eligible applicant categories

• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)

Official Grants.gov eligibility information. Listed categories are not a determination that an organization qualifies.

Funding and program

Assistance Listing

10.310

Funding instrument

Grant

Cost sharing

Required

Estimated total program funding

39,700,000

Expected number of awards

245 (government estimate, not a guaranteed count)

Official modification date

January 22, 2026

Official Funding Information

Estimated total program funding is the government figure for the whole program, not an individual award ceiling. The expected number of awards is a government estimate, not a guaranteed count. These figures are estimates, not guaranteed funding. The funding-information link is the stored Grants.gov reference, not an application submission URL.

Related Federal Opportunities

• Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program Foundational and Applied Science ProgramNational Institute of FOOD and Agriculture · Due Dec 31, 20
• Tribal Colleges Research Grants ProgramNational Institute of FOOD and Agriculture · Due Dec 31, 20
• Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs Phase IINational Institute of FOOD and Agriculture · Due 2026-11-17
• Tribal Colleges Education Equity Grants ProgramNational Institute of FOOD and Agriculture · Due Oct 07, 20